Bubka backs longer ban for drug cheats in athletics

Ukraine's pole vaulting legend Sergey Bubka has expressed his support for longer bans for drug cheaters.

"We will not excuse the dopers. It must be increased from a two-year ban to a four-year ban," said the 49-year-old Bubka, presidential candidate of the International Olympic Committee Wednesday, reports Xinhua.

Bubka urged the athletics authorities to carry out severer punishment on dopers and protect the credibility of the sport following high-profile sprinters such as Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay testing positive recently.

"We need to go this way and we must protect the honest athletes. We must eliminate the cheaters and this is very important for sport, very important for the youth and for the credibility of the sport. We need to be very strong and tough with the doping," said Bubka